It includes a host of new, fully-funded initiatives and reverses several cuts to services in the Liberal Democrat administration’s budget, whilst keeping Council Tax to below the rate of inflation (3% in year 1 reducing to 2% in years 2 and 3).

Says Green Councillor Craig Simmons, who along with Councillor Matt Sellwood, will be presenting the budget on Monday; “£3m of savings over three years are matched by initiatives to help tackle climate change, address social inequalities and improve service delivery.  Over £650,000 is proposed to reduce Oxford’s carbon footprint.  This will be further augmented by third party funding. Enough to make a real difference.”

Climate change-related bids:

• Expand successful free loft and wall insulation scheme introduced in previous Green Group budget (£225,000).

• £10,000 or a Climate Change Facilitation fund to be administered in collaboration with the Oxfordshire Climate Change Partnership.

• £200,000 towards spending on energy reduction measures.  To be match-funded by the Carbon Trust (giving a total of £200,000) and spent on revenue and capital measures to reduce the Council’s carbon footprint.  Measures will provide ongoing cost savings.

• £129,000 for a new energy manager to help administer and implement the above.

• £10,000 to investigate the feasibility of a new ‘zero carbon emission’ housing development on Council land in East Oxford.  This takes forward work by the Green-run East Area Parliament.

• £15,000 for an inner Oxford study on innovative transport solutions reflecting renewed interest in rickshaws, lightweight trams and bike hire schemes.  The study would provide an initial assessment of feasibility building on initial third-party work already carried out.

• £75,000 to double the public transport subsidy received by staff – thus encouraging greater use of public transport.

Other initiatives include:

• £300,000 to ease the introduction of Oxford’s new recycling scheme.  The money will be used to provide a part-time clean-up team with an educational remit.  It is critical that Oxford increases its recycling rates at the same time recognising that such an ambitious scheme will have teething problems.  The scheme has the full backing of the Green Group – we want it to succeed.

• £300,000 to replace playground equipment which is in desperate need of repair.  Without this money several playgrounds will inevitably close.  Even this money will be insufficient to protect all playgrounds without the Area Committees’ financial support.  Elsewhere in this budget we have therefore reversed the cut to Area Committee funding (£45,000) and including an additional £75,000 for ‘participatory budgeting’ – spending on those priorities decided by local residents.

• £500,000 to reverse the decision of the Liberal Democrat to outsource the City’s leisure facilities. We need to improve leisure – getting rid of it (though it may save some money from technical changes in VAT) is no solution.

• £150,000 to provide customer care training for staff.  All too often Green Councillors are told by residents of ‘insensitive’ and ‘abrupt’ treatment by Council frontline staff.  This is reflected in the poor levels of public satisfaction with Council services.  This is not a universal problem; some areas have shown substantial improvement in recent years – for which staff are to be congratulated – but there is still considerable room for improvement.

• £150,000 to reverse cut to children’s playscheme coordinator post made by the Liberal Democrats.  The playschemes are highly valued.

• £87,000 to reverse cuts to allotments maintenance so that work on allotments can proceed promptly.

• £70,000 for an area business coordinator to support small businesses in Oxford’s satellite shopping centres.  These will be under increasing threat when the expanded Westgate comes on-stream.

• £40,000 for a part-time, 2 year post to support Oxfordshire’s Community Land Trust which aims to provide affordable housing.

• £30,000 for a grant to Oxford’s Pathways project to help it expand.

• £75,000 for a benefits take-up campaign.  The take-up of benefits is low in Oxford.  Evidence has shown that for £1 spent on advertising - £10 of benefits will be claimed.

• £15,000 on research work to support FOXCANs work on reinstating Oxford’s canal basin.

• Support for several measures proposed by City Council committees; £60,000 for a study into a housing ‘foyer’ project for young people, £105,000 to establish a new domestic violence post, £30,000 to introduce weekend burials for Muslim and Jewish faiths.

As the Greens have proposed in previous years, the largest portion of new money is raised from an increase in car parking charges.  After much thought, the Greens decided NOT to support the LibDem proposal for a massive 50% increase in City Centre parking charges on Saturday.  Instead we have gone for a more modest average 30% increase.  This is NOT a straight increase in all tariff ranges – but instead targeted at reducing short stay parking.  We want to encourage those who do drive into Oxford on a Saturday to stay longer.  Some third of drivers will experience no increase in charges at all – others will find there parking charges increased by more than 50%.